Andrew Smith recently joined the Regional Chamber as head of Entrepreneurship and Innovation. He has founded several companies in his career, and played key roles in the growth of many more.

In this episode of STL Community Cast, Andrew shares his perspective and analysis on the local startup scene. He explains what the city is doing well, what the Chamber is planning to do improve in order to attract promising startups to the region, and how the new Spirit of St Louis Fund can help local startups escape “the valley of death.”

Drew Davis is the creator and host of STL Community Cast, a podcast that examines innovative and impactful projects in St Louis. In each episode, Drew converses with a project leader to uncover the purpose and passion driving their work, and the impact of the project in St Louis and beyond. To keep up with cool projects and hear directly from the visionaries behind them, subscribe to STL Community Cast on your podcast app of choice, or connect with Drew on Twitter and Soundcloud.